Systems and methods for decoding a barcode are disclosed. A scan signal for a first portion of the barcode is acquired. Integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence for the barcode is stored including evidence for a first plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for a first plurality of sub-character barcode features. Sub-character barcode feature measurements are extracted for a second plurality of sub-character barcode features from the scan signal. Sub-character barcode feature evidence is determined for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features, including evidence for a second plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features. Whether a portion of the integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence corresponds to a portion of the sub-character barcode feature evidence is determined. The sub-character barcode feature evidence is integrated into the integrated sub-character barcode. Character values are determined from the integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A barcode reading system for decoding at least a portion of a barcode comprising: a barcode scanner; a signal processor connected to the barcode scanner, wherein the signal processor is configured to: store first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence for the barcode, the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for a first plurality of sub-character barcode features of the barcode; acquire, from the barcode scanner, a first scan signal for at least a first portion of the barcode; extract, from the first scan signal, sub-character barcode feature measurements for a second plurality of sub-character barcode features; determine first sub-character barcode feature evidence for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features based on the sub-character barcode feature measurements for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features, the first sub-character barcode feature evidence comprising evidence for a second plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features; determine whether a first portion of the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence corresponds to a second portion of the first sub-character barcode feature evidence; integrate the first sub-character barcode feature evidence into the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence if the first portion of the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence corresponds to the second portion of the integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence; and determine one or more character values from the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated element evidence, the first integrated element evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible element interpretations for a first plurality of elements.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated edge-to-similar-edge feature evidence, the first integrated edge-to-similar-edge feature evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible edge-to-similar-edge feature interpretations for a first plurality of edge-to-similar-edge features.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated module location evidence, the first integrated module location evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible module location interpretations for a first plurality of module locations.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated character evidence, the first integrated character evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible element interpretations for a first plurality of elements associated with a character of the barcode.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the barcode scanner is a camera.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the barcode scanner is a laser scanner.
8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to determine the first sub-character barcode feature evidence for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features based on the sub-character barcode feature measurements for the second plurality of sub-character barcode feature by applying one or more evidence functions to each of the sub-character barcode feature measurements.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the signal processor is configured to determine whether a first portion of the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence corresponds to a second portion of the first sub-character barcode feature evidence by calculating a correlation between the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence and the first sub-character barcode feature evidence.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for a first plurality of sub-character barcode features of the barcode comprises all possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for the first plurality of sub-character barcode features.
11. A method performed by a barcode reading system for decoding at least a portion of a barcode comprising: storing, by the barcode reading system, first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence for the barcode, the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for a first plurality of sub-character barcode features of the barcode; acquiring, by the barcode reading system, from a barcode scanner, a first scan signal for at least a first portion of the barcode; extracting, by the barcode reading system, from the first scan signal, sub-character barcode feature measurements for a second plurality of sub-character barcode features; determining, by the barcode reading system, first sub-character barcode feature evidence for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features based on the sub-character barcode feature measurements for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features, the first sub-character barcode feature evidence comprising evidence for a second plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for the second plurality of sub-character barcode features; determining, by the barcode reading system, whether a first portion of the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence corresponds to a second portion of the first sub-character barcode feature evidence; integrating, by the barcode reading system, the first sub-character barcode feature evidence into the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence if the first portion of the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence corresponds to the second portion of the integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence; and determining, by the barcode reading system, one or more character values from the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated element evidence, the first integrated element evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible element interpretations for a first plurality of elements.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated edge-to-similar-edge feature evidence, the first integrated edge-to-similar-edge feature evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible edge-to-similar-edge feature interpretations for a first plurality of edge-to-similar-edge features.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated module location evidence, the first integrated module location evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible module location interpretations for a first plurality of module locations.
15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence is first integrated character evidence, the first integrated character evidence comprising evidence for a first plurality of possible element interpretations for a first plurality of elements associated with a character of the barcode.
16. The method claim 11 , wherein the barcode scanner is a camera.
17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the barcode scanner is a laser scanner.
18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: applying, by the barcode reading system, one or more evidence functions to each of the sub-character barcode feature measurements.
19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising: calculating a correlation between the first integrated sub-character barcode feature evidence and the first sub-character barcode feature evidence.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the first plurality of possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for a first plurality of sub-character barcode features of the barcode comprises all possible sub-character barcode feature interpretations for the first plurality of sub-character barcode features.
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October 9, 2014
June 7, 2016
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